20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free docx

20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Legal Notice:
This ebook is copyright protected. This is only for personal use. You cannot
amend, distribute, sell, use, quote or paraphrase any part or the content
within this ebook without the consent of the author or copyright owner.
Legal action will be pursued if this is breached.
Disclaimer Notice:
Please note the information contained within this document is for
educational purposes only.
Every attempt has been made to provide accurate, up to date and reliable
complete information no warranties of any kind are expressed or implied.
Readers acknowledge that the author is not engaging in rendering legal,
financial or professional advice.
By reading any document, the reader agrees that under no circumstances
are we responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, which are incurred as a
result of use of the information contained within this document, including –
but not limited to errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.
2
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Table of Contents
Introduction: Promoting Your Website for Free pg. 4
SEO: Search Engine Optimization ……… …… pg. 5
Online directory submissions…………………… pg. 6
Create your own Blog…… ……….………………….pg. 7
Podcasting…… …………………….………… pg. 9
Join online communities…… …….…………… pg. 10
Press Release…… ………………….…………… pg. 11
Free Classified Ads…… …………….…………… pg. 13
Newsletters…… ……………………….… pg. 14

Article Marketing…… ………………….……… pg. 15
Forum Marketing…… ………………….……… pg. 17
Yahoo Groups…… …………………….………… pg. 18
Google Local…… ……………………….……… pg. 19
Yahoo Local…… ………………………….…… pg. 20
Bing Local…… …………………………….… … pg. 21
Craigslist…… ………….…………………….…… pg. 22
RSS Feeds…… ……………………………… … pg. 23
Technorati…… …………………………………… pg. 24
Social Bookmarking…… ……………………… pg. 25
E-mail marketing…… …………………….….… pg. 26
Social Networking…… ……………………….… pg. 27
3
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Free Marketing: Putting It All Together………….pg 28
4
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Introduction: Promoting Your Website for Free
There are many paid methods to promoting your website, including
Pay-Per-Click, Pay-Per-Action, banner ads, Facebook Ads, Google
AdSense and Sponsored Tweets, to name a few. But many internet
marketers who are just starting out don’t have the hundreds, or even
thousands, of dollars required to launch a paid marketing campaign.
Fortunately, the internet provides a wide variety of no-cost marketing
methods that can be just as effective, if not more effective, than paid
techniques. In fact, with Google Penguin, the new search engine update
released in early 2012, websites that attract traffic through organic methods
such as the ones described in this guide will rank higher on Search Engine

Results Pages (SERPs) than pages that use some paid methods.
Free marketing methods tend to take longer to take hold than paid
marketing such as advertising, but the benefit – other than the cost savings
– is that their impact tends to last longer. With paid marketing, once your
advertisement expires, there usually is a steep drop-off in traffic. But free
marketing methods can continue to funnel visitors to your site for months or
even years after they have been put in place.
You don’t need to spend a fortune to promote your website and get it
ranked in the top spot of the SERP for your niche. All you need is
persistence, patience and the helpful information provided in this guide to
funnel thousands of visitors to your website every day.
5
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
SEO: Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO,) is the process of improving the
visibility of a website in the eyes of the search engines people use to find
what they are looking for on the internet. SEO uses organic techniques to
improve the search engine’s ability to index the website and rank it higher
on the SERP.
The most important SEO technique is to include the best keywords
for your website’s niche. For example, if your page promotes your ladies’
designer shoe business, your site should include the keywords “women’s
designer shoes” in various places, including the headline and sub heads.
That way, when somebody uses the Google or Bing search engines to look
for websites about women’s designer shoes, if your website has been
optimized with the appropriate keywords, it will appear near or at the top of
the SERP for those keywords.
Search engines utilize “spiders”, also known as “bots”, to crawl from
site to site on the internet, indexing each page according to what it is about

and ranking it based on a set of criteria, called the search engine algorithm.
While the algorithm is a closely held secret and is constantly being modified
to prevent people from fooling spiders, there are certain SEO techniques
that will improve your web page’s ranking.
Entire college courses and libraries of books are devoted to SEO.
There are even SEO consultants you can hire who will optimize your site.
6
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Online directory submissions
Online directories are clearinghouses for information about
businesses. They are usually categorized either by location or by genres.
For example, there are online directories for businesses in the western
suburbs or Houston, and there are directories for sports adventure
businesses.
In many cases, these directories will publish information about your
business for free, including your website address. This can be a good way
to attract customers to your webpage, especially those who are either
already in your geographic area or who are looking for products and
services in a specific niche.
While some of these directories, such as the White Pages and the
Yellow Pages, will find your business on your own, for others it will be
necessary for you to seek them out. Conduct a Google search for
directories in your product niche and then visit all the significant ones you
find. If they look like someplace you would like to promote your business
and website, find the area in the directory where it explains how to make
submissions.
If you can’t easily find the submissions information, go to the “About”
page. There you should find contact information for the site administrator,
including their email address. Send them an email explaining what your

business is about and let them know you would like to be included.
7
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Create your own Blog
Blogging has become one of the most popular ways for people to
share ideas, engage in dialogue, and interact with others who share a
common interest. They usually are short essays published online according
to a regular schedule, such as daily or weekly, revolving around a particular
subject, such as food, sports, raising children or any other topic.
Currently, there are an estimated 450 million blogs being published
on the internet. Blogs are free to create on blog hosting sites such as
WordPress and Blogger, most of which also provide easy-to-use free tools
and pre-made “themes” to make your blog look professional. Blogs can
include photos, videos, audio recordings, slideshows and many other forms
of rich text. Bloggers sometimes make their blogs more interactive and
entertaining by including polls and contests, and by encouraging their
readers to leave comments and interact with them online.
Creating your own blog can be an effective way to promote your
webpage because it’s an easy way to attract people who already are
interested in your topic niche. By providing them with valuable information
and rich content in your blog, you can build a relationship with your
readers, ultimately directing them back to your website.
Plus, blogging is fun and interesting and you can quickly become
immersed in a community of people who are friendly and knowledgeable
about your niche subject.
8
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Podcasting

Podcasting is a form of digital media consisting of a series of audio or
video files usually all devoted to a certain topic. They can be created for
free using the audio and video tools that are included with most newer
computers, laptops, tablets and even smartphones and can be distributed
for free on iTunes, YouTube and other free distribution networks. You can
also send your podcast to a list of subscribers or post links to your
podcasts on your web page or blog.
Like blogs, podcasts are an effective way to target people who share
your passion for your niche subject, and can therefore be a great way to
promote your website. Although some podcasts feature elaborate
production including professional-quality editing, musical scores and
other production values – most are simply people talking into a microphone
or video camera about a topic that interests them.
Unlike blogs, podcasts give you the opportunity to speak directly to
your listeners or viewers. This can make it easier to engage them
emotionally and show your personality, which can be an effective way of
branding your website. Podcasts usually are played back later by users on
iPods or portable viewing devices.
During the early years of the internet, audio podcasts were the
podcasting method of choice, but now with the near universality of video
playback capabilities, video podcasts are becoming more popular.
9
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Join Online Communities
Creating a reputation for your online business is no different than
building a brand for a brick and mortar business. As the business owner,
you need to get out into your community and meet people. Look for
organizations that are relevant to your business’ niche and become
involved in their online communities.

Introduce yourself to as many people as necessary and be prepared
to “sell” your website to them in a few short sentences. One of the best
ways to make friends online – or in the real world, for that matter – is to
offer to help the other person, instead of asking for something all the time.
If you offer to write a testimonial for their website, for example, or to provide
a free sample of some of your products, they probably will be open to the
idea of helping you in return.
It’s also important to always be friendly and helpful to everybody that
you encounter online because you never know who is going to be a
potential customer. In most cases, the only point of contact people will have
with you will be your online persona, so make sure you are consistently
outgoing and always offer to assist people in whatever way you can.
Once you join online communities, find out what you need to do to get
into positions of leadership. Not only will this help build your reputation and
add to your resume, but it will put you in a position to make policy decisions
that can be beneficial to your website and business in the future.
10
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Press Release s
Press releases are short documents that are sent to news
organizations to promote some kind of newsworthy event or development.
They can be a good way to promote your website as long as the “hook”
upon which your press release is built is genuinely newsworthy, and not
just an advertisement.
The editors at newspapers, television and radio stations, and online
newswires are always looking for content to fill their news hole. If you can
create a professional-looking press release that newsworthy information,
there is a good possibility that it can be picked up and it could result ina
news story.

There are numerous only press release distribution sites that will
send your press release to news organizations in your region or even
nationally or internationally. Most are paid, but some are free
Before you create your news release, make sure it is in the standard
format for press releases. Editors look at hundreds each day, and if yours
makes it difficult for them to glean the essential information quickly, it may
be discarded without being read.
Also, be sure that what you are promoting is newsworthy and can
serve as the starting point for a news story. Make sure to include contact
information, such as your phone number, so they can call for an interview.
11
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Free Classified Ads
Most people read classified ads to find used cars, apartments for
rent, help wanted postings, and the like. But it is possible to promote your
website using free classified ads if you know a few tricks.
Generally, websites offering free classified ads – such as Kenda.com
or WebClassifieds.us –won’t let you post ads that promote a business or
website unless you purchase a paid ad. But if you write your classified ad
so that it offers something of value for free, then you can usually get them
published.
For example, let’s say you own website that promotes dog training
courses. While you probably couldn’t get a free classified that blatantly tries
to sell your products, you could post one that says:
“Learn five secret techniques to turn a bad puppy into a good dog.
Get your free report at PuppyPartners.com.”
Then you simply create a short report or brief eBook, offer it on your
webpage to people who give you their email address and not only will your
free classified ad drive visitors to your site, but you can build a subscription

list of potential customers that you can use to market other products in the
future.
Free marketing sometimes requires taking some creative liberties.
12
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Newsletters
Newsletters are short reports containing one or more article that are
distributed according to a regular schedule, usually monthly, to a group of
subscribers who have signed up to receive them because they are
interested in the newsletter’s niche topic.
There are two ways to promote your website for free using
newsletters: Including links to your website on somebody else’s newsletter
or creating your own. The latter probably is the more valuable.
Most newsletter distributors will allow you to include a link to your
web page in their newsletter for a fee. This is called a solo ad and if the
newsletter is popular enough, it can be one of the best ways to quickly build
a customer base. If you can’t afford to buy a solo ad, some newsletter
distributors may let you submit an article for inclusion in their newsletter in
which you include a link to your website.
Offering a subscription to a free newsletter is a great way to build
your email subscriber list, then creating and distributing afree newsletter of
your very own. Although this requires a larger time investment because you
probably will have to create all the content on your own, the reward is that
you can quickly build a list of dedicated and loyal subscribers. These
enthusiastic fans can then promote your website to their friends, family,
members of their social networks, and other people who are interested in
your subject niche.
13
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com

20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Article Marketing
Search engines will rank a site higher on the SERP if it has a lot of
links leading back to it from other sites, especially sites that are considered
expert or authoritative. You can improve your site’s ranking by building a lot
of these links, known as backlinks.
One of the most popular ways to build backlinks is to write short
articles on topics related to your website’s niche, and then submit those
articles on free online article directories, such as ezinearticles.com,
examiner.com, and ehow.com. Whenever you submit an article to another
site, always remember to include a link back to your web page. Then, every
time your article is published by and article directory, it create a backlink to
your web page. The more backlinks you have especially from sites
internet users trust to provide helpful information, such as ehow.com and
about.com – the higher the value the search engine will assign to your
website and the higher its ranking on the SERP.
The downside of creating backlinks is that it can be a slow and
tedious process, and it can take a long time to result in increased traffic or
higher rankings.
In recent years, unethical marketers have discovered ways to
automatically generate hundreds of backlinks for a website using computer
programs and fake user accounts. Google and other search engines have
subsequently changed their algorithms to give less value to backlinks.
14
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Forum Marketing
If you want to attract visitors to your website, you need to go to where
they are located. Online communities, also known as forums, are places
where people who share a common interest can get together to exchange

information and ideas, discuss issues and interact with other passionate
fans.
Forums can take the form of message boards or chat rooms but one
of the newest and most exciting types of forums is Google Plus’ Hangouts.
These are virtual rooms where people can go to talk about specific topics,
but by using the built-in cameras installed on most modern computers, you
can actually see all of the other people in the room.
Online communities are a great place to promote your website
because they attract people who already are devoted to their subject niche.
For example, if your website features products about horseracing – such as
offering eBooks about how to handicap and tips on upcoming races –
spending time in a forum where horseracing enthusiasts gather can be an
effective way to find people who are willing to buy the types of products you
are selling.
It’s a good idea to build relationships in forums by providing people
with a lot of helpful information they can use, such as links to high-quality
sites, rather than just trying to sell them something all the time. That way
you can build trust bonds and convert them into long-term customers.
15
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Yahoo Groups
Although Yahoo no longer has its own search engine – it began using
Microsoft’s Bing search engine in 2011 – it does have one of the largest
collections of online groups devoted to every topic imaginable. Think of any
topic and you can find a site that is filled with loyal and devoted fans. For
example, go to Yahoo! Groups and search Britain’s Got Talent singer
Susan Boyle and you will find about a dozen groups, each of which has
dozens of members.
One of the greatest benefits of the internet to marketers is that it

makes it easy to find highly-targeted groups of people. Where in the past it
could take weeks or months and considerable expense to locate a few
dozen people who are passionate about your product niche, with tools such
as Yahoo! Groups this task can be accomplished in just a few moments.
To promote your website on Yahoo! Groups, join the groups that are
devoted to your niche and begin to interact with the other members. In
most cases, it’s probably not a good idea to start selling hard right away.
Instead, participate in conversations, talk a little about yourself and your
personal history, and start to develop personal relationships with the other
online group members.
Once you get to know people within these Yahoo! Groups, they will
be more open to you when you start to talk about your website and your
business and ultimately can end up being among your most devoted fans.
16
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Google Local
Google has the world’s most popular search engine, and buying ads
for your business or website through Google’s AdSense program can be
expensive. But did you know that you can advertise for free using the
search engine’s popular Google Local program?
Google Local is an offshoot of Google Maps, the successful mapping
service application. When you search for a location on Google Maps, you
have the option of searching for a business, or types of businesses, near
that location. When you do, information about relevant area businesses will
appear in the left-hand column and little corresponding pinpoints for each
business will appear on the map.
With Google Local, getting your business listed on the service is free
and simple to do. Just go to Google Local’s website and register your
business. It takes just a few moments. Make sure to include a link to your

website.
Google Local even lets you post coupons for special offers, deals and
discounts. And your customers can write reviews about your business that
will appear anytime somebody hovers over your business name on Google
Local. You can even include photos of your business, your employees or
your products.
While Google AdSense maybe out of your budget, Google Local isn’t.
17
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Yahoo Local
Yahoo! Local is an online local advertising system that lets you
promote your business on the popular Yahoo web pages for free when you
use the Basics Listing service.
When you go to Yahoo Local, you can create a business profile by
entering information including your business’ name, address and phone
numbers, hours of operation, payment methods accepted, and services
and products that are available. You can even include a link to your web
page.
When users conduct a search for local business in your niche, your
business will be listed along with all of your competitors. Yahoo! Local
offers an enhanced listing service for a small fee, which allows you to
include up to ten photos, your company’s tagline, a long description that is
searchable by Yahoo! Users and two additional links to other websites you
may have. You also will then be provided with performance reports that
give you detailed information about how many people searched for your
business, including demographics, geographic locations and other analytics
you can use.
Directories such Yahoo! Local are important to local businesses
because people today use websites like Yahoo! to search for the products

and services they want in their communities. Web searches have
surpassed the Yellow Pages as people’s primary search method.
18
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Bing Local
Bing Local is the new name for the service formerly known as Live
Search, Windows Live Search, and MSN Search. It is kind of a combination
of Google Local and Yahoo! Local in that it offers the best elements of both
services.
Like Google Local, Bing Local is tied to the site’s mapping service,so
listings will appear whenever a user conducts a search for businesses of
your type while using the map. But Bing Local offers additional free
features that you can use to promote your business. Unlike Yahoo! Local,
Bing Local doesn’t charge you a fee to include links to supplemental
websites. For example, if you own a restaurant, you can include links to
your menus, booking forms or even reviews on sites like tripadvisor.com.
All three services – Google Local, Yahoo! Local and Bing Local –
require verification of your information prior to inclusion on their pages, but
Bing Local lets you verify by phone or even by the US Mail.
Bing, which is owned by Microsoft, recently took over the search
engine duties for Yahoo, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Bing Local and
Yahoo! Local merged into one service in the near future. Still, in order to
get information about your business in front of the most people possible,
you should take advantage of the free listing services offered by all three
websites.
19
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Craigslist

If you’ve ever wanted to buy used furniture, look for a job, or even
romance, you probably already are familiar with Craigslist. It’s the biggest
and most popular free classified listing on the internet. It also is a great
place to promote your website for free.
Regardless of what your niche is, there’s almost certainly a category
within Craigslist that you can use. The site hosts discussion forums on
everything from health and beauty products to celebrities, from vegan
cooking to pets. And the only postings that you pay for on Craigslist are
help wanted ads.
Participating in forums related to your niche is an effective, no-cost
way to gain exposure for your website in front of people who already are
interested in buying what you are selling. By engaging in conversations
with other Craigslist users on the comment threads, you can promotes
your products and services, build your professional reputation, and identify
prospective customers that you can convert into loyal fans.
You can join an existing conversation or start a new forum topic.
One caveat: Anything you do and say online stays in cyberspace
forever, so always make sure you are polite and professional. Craigslist
tends to have a much more relaxed, laid back vibe to it, so it’s easy to let
your hair down and say things you might not say elsewhere.
20
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
RSS Feeds
RSS feeds are a family of web feed formats used to publish
frequently updated works. They are sort of like a web version of a news
wire service, such as the Associated Press or United Press International,
except the content can be about anything and can include video, audio
recordings, slideshows, infographics and other types of content.
Users who subscribe to free RSS feeds get fresh content delivered to

their RSS reader anytime something new is published to the feed. Often
these readers are placed on their computer desktop, but now many people
are posting RSS readers onto their smartphones and tablets.
There are two basic ways you can use RSS feeds to promote your
website. The first is to offer your own RSS feed to subscribers, in which you
provide a constant stream of information about new products, price
changes, availability, promotions and other things related to your business.
You can choose from a variety of RSS aggregators that you can use to
build your feed and offer it to your customers.
The second option is to provide your content to somebody else’s RSS
feed. This can be an existing local business group’s feed, an industry feed,
a news feed or any other feed that will accept your content.
Whichever method you choose, make sure the content you provide is
valuable and accurate and that you always include a link to your website.
21
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Technorati
Technorati is a search engine that is used to search blogs. It is based
on the micro-descriptions, called “tags”, which blog creators use to identify
the content of their blogs. Technorati uses these tags to help users find
blogs related to topics of interest to them.
If you have a blog, Technorati is a great way to help people find your
content, which you can then use to direct them to your website. Technorati
also serves as the centralized site for everything having to do with blogs. It
offers articles and links to other sites involving blogging news and statistics,
and it hosts numerous blogging forums in which bloggers can exchange
information and ideas.
Another marketing option is to find blogs related to your niche and
then contact the authors. You can ask if they will allow you to write a guest

blog. Because most bloggers eventually run out of ideas, in many cases
they will agree. When you provide an informative, well-written blog about
your niche topic, you can build your reputation as an expert in your field
and also include a link so that you can drive traffic to your website.
You can build relationships with other bloggers by frequently leaving
positive, supportive comments about their blog postings. Even though there
are millions of bloggers, the blogging community for each niche tends to be
a small world, so becoming friends with other bloggers can lead to
testimonials, mutual support and cross-promotion opportunities.
22
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking is a way for internet users to share sites that they
like with other people, such as their friends, families, social media contacts
and subscribers. If you have ever added a site to your “Favorites” bar on
your Yahoo or Google page, you have used social bookmarking.
There also are external sites that use social bookmarking. The
biggest right now is Pinterest, but others include Digg, StumbleUpon,
Reddit and BuzzFeed. When users of these sites find something they like
such as an article, a web page, an infographic, an image or video, etc. –
they can upload it onto their account so that others can see it.
There are several ways you can promote your website using social
bookmarking. The first is to create accounts at all the biggest social
bookmarking sites and post links to your website, along with other things
that you find on the internet that you enjoy. Then when people find your
page, they can access your site.
Another way is to encourage visitors to your website to post it to their
social bookmarking pages. The best way to do this is to include buttons on
your site that instantly share your link on their pages. If you built your

website using WordPress or another mainstream blog hosting site, there
are free plug-ins that you can drag and drop onto your pages to add these
buttons.
23
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com
20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
E-mail marketing
Email marketing has been one of the most effective ways internet
marketers have used to promote their websites. The way it works it this:
You create a webpage in which you offer something of value in exchange
for the visitor’s email address. It could be a free report, an eBook, an
instructional video, or anything niche-related that people are going to want.
Email addresses that you capture are then added to your subscription
list. You then use an autoresponder – a program that allows you to
automatically manage your email lists – to send out a series of emails
promoting your webpage, business or products. The emails can be
interspersed with other emails that don’t try to sell at all, but instead offer
high-value content that the recipient can use. The purpose of alternating
sales emails with content emails is to build trust bonds with the people on
your email list.
You can use your email sequence to promote a single offer or
multiple offers. Most email marketing programs promote a string of
increasingly more expensive offers so that you can convince your list to
buy bigger and more products from you as the trust bonds become
stronger.
Sadly, email marketing is not as effective as it once was because
internet users today, especially younger people, aren’t using email as often
as they once did. Today, texting has replaced email as the primary web-
24
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com

20 Ways to Promote Your Website for Free
based method of communicating with other users. As a result, mobile
marketing has replaced email marketing as the best way to promote your
business online.
Fortunately, the concepts of mobile marketing are identical to email
marketing. You still capture your subscribers’ addresses – only this time it’s
their mobile phone number rather than their email address – in exchange
for something that they find valuable, such as a free giveaway or a discount
or special offer. Then you use a program to send out a series of text
messages that alternately promote your business and give them high-value
content they can use.
25
Copyright © 2012 www.MarketingMovers.com